Online charter schools seek debut

No more pencils, no more books: Online charter schools are making a debut in Utah.

Applications for three online charter schools, to be located in Salt Lake School District, are being considered for fall 2011.

They are Mercury Online Academy of Utah, Utah Connections Academy and Aspire Online Charter School.

The trio would join two other online charter schools already under way. Utah Virtual Academy opened its doors in fall 2008. Open High School of Utah is scheduled to launch this fall.

Online learning best suits some students who don't fit the classroom norm, said Margaret Witbeck, who works with the proposed Mercury Online Academy. She also works in information technology at the University of Utah.

Mercury Online would serve students statewide, letting them learn at their own pace. The school would require students and parents to meet at the Salt Lake site once a month.

"They would get the social aspect from field trips and meeting with their classmates," Witbeck said, adding she wished she would have had this school growing up.

Offering a different approach, Aspire Online Charter School would have centers where the students would go each day for online learning. The program would accommodate students who can't afford a computer or online access at home — or who may not have a parent at home during the day to supervise their school work.

"This would improve access for low-income and minority students," said Leah Barker, executive director of Children First Utah, a nonprofit organization that offers private-school scholarships. Children First is sponsoring Aspire Online.

The four Aspire Online centers may be in Ogden, Salt Lake's Rose Park neighborhood, West Valley and Midvale. Aspire Online gave notice to six school districts, however, to keep their options open: Weber, Granite, Provo, Canyons, Salt Lake and Ogden.

Charter-school applicants must give notice by March 31 to the school district in which they would geographically be located. The district is allowed to give input on the charter proposals that are seeking state approval.

Dorothy Cosgrove, Salt Lake District associate superintendent for school support, said the district doesn't feel threatened by charter schools. And online schools generally draw students throughout the state — not just in the district.

"Our strategy is to create really great neighborhood schools with options or magnet programs so we meet the many different desires of our community," Cosgrove said.